Private ~ H.S

Chapter II

A/N: Hello beauties!! Here's another chapter of this new book for you :)

Oh, and BTW: if any of you by any chance know how Gentlemen's Clubs work and find my portrayal of them inaccurate, I'm sorry but I'm not really bothered about knowing how they properly work - and I'll continue to stick to my own portrayal of them :p

I got off the bus that late morning, slung my bag over my shoulder and took a deep, shaky breath as I slowly walked towards my dreaded place of work. I looked back at the bus stop – contemplating if I should just catch another ride straight back home and skip work entirely today.

No, Lia. You can't do that.

You know you can't.

I let out a long sigh and reluctantly walked on – finally reaching the front door of Flamme and forcing myself to swallow the lump in my throat as I entered the building. Honestly...I've been working at this place for two years already, and yet I still can't stand the very sight of it.

I had to stop myself from covering my ears as soon as I walked in – the loud music combined with men's perverted cat-calls and wolf-whistles instantly making me cringe. I stayed close to the wall – away from any of the tables and away from the lights – and I hurried into the back of the building so that I could go to the locker room and change.

I rushed through the beaded curtains and quickly entered the changing rooms – where I saw a couple more of the dancers changing out of their everyday clothes and into their costumes.

"Hey, Aurelia," Jeanette, one of my co-workers greeted me with a smile, "how are you?"

"Good, thanks," I replied absent-mindedly as I opened my small locker and put my bag inside.

"Ready to flaunt it today?"

No.

"Yep," I cleared my throat and took off my jacket, "I guess so."

"OK, well..." she coughed awkwardly, "by the way, I, er...I was wondering if you'd consider teaching me your dance routine for 'Buttons' by the Pussycat Dolls? It's really popular with the punters, and I'd really like to learn it."

"Oh, the whole routine is on YouTube," I said, "it was created by a choreographer called Jojo Gomez. Just search it up."

"Oh...alright. Thanks," Jeanette was silent for a few moments, "well...good luck out there today, Aurelia."

"Yeah. You too," I lowered my eyes and bit my lip as I prepared to take off my shirt, "thanks."

She then walked out with the only other dancer who was still in the room – leaving me by myself. And, to be perfectly honest, I was glad about it. While I do try to be civil and polite to the other dancers, I have no real wish to be friends with them – just like I have no real wish to work here.

The other girls who worked here just...weren't the types of people I'd normally hang out with as friends. I just felt so left out amongst them...because it was like I was the only one out of all of us who actually didn't enjoy even one aspect of our job. The rest of them seem perfectly happy to be here – whereas I'd turn my back on this place in a heartbeat if I could. The only reason I was here was to earn good money fast so that I can support Noah on my own. I do not work here to socialize with my co-dancers.

I took off my shirt and undershirts and pushed down my jeans to reveal the stupid, skimpy costume that I'd been wearing underneath. It was pretty much just like a body-hugging backless black swimsuit – except with a G-string and a fancy 'sexy' halterneck and bindings around the lower back and bikini line. Out of all the gross costumes I had to wear, this was the one I hated the least – since despite how trashy it was, at least I still didn't have to show off my midriff or anything.